She doesn't want to go for a walk {but she does go through phases of
this} and has coughed quite a few times. She also appears "foamy"
around the nose area and mouth, and is generally just not quite
right - although she still runs in the garden, and leaps onto the
furniture!

I took her back to the vets yesterday to get them to check her heart
again. Last time, in April, she was "worse than a 2" meaning she had
deteriorated since her op for luxating patella in March. MVD is graded 0 - 6, 6 being the most severe. {I was hoping to take her to a cardiologist in September, when we stay with my sister, as there is one about 10 minutes from her at Brentwood. The nearest to here is over 200 miles away... }

My usual vets were both unavailable, so I saw a locum. He was very
good, but extremely concerned, says that her heart is not good, and
wanted her in on Monday for an ECG, prior to starting medication. He
mentioned both diuretics and heart supporting drugs {vasodilators}.
The ECG will be transmitted to a cardiologist for review and recommendations.

Also she is due back in Sept for a 6 month check following her knee
op, and to see if the other knee should be done too. I guess they
will not want to operate now - too risky.

Peaches' sire and grandsire both died at 9 from MVD, they both
developed murmurs late but deteriorated fast. Peaches' Mum has a
clear heart at 10, and her Granny has a Grade 1 still unchanged for
some years at 13! I guess it's come from the male line, and my
understanding is that MVD usually affects the boys worse than the
girls.

I will post as soon as I have any news on Monday - I have to leave
her at the vets for the day :(

BonnieB

6th July 2005, 05:28 PM

Nicki, I'm sending best wishes for your Peaches. Even though MVD is very scarey, there are meds out there that can ensure a quality life for quite some time. I had a Cavalier who lived for 13+ years, and he had a Grade 6 murmur for many of those years. The vet had him on the right combination of meds for his condition, and I just let the Artful Dodger live life at his own pace.

Bonnie

Karlin

6th July 2005, 06:22 PM

So so sorry to hear of these concerns for Peaches, Nicki. I hope you are able to get her comfortable on meds and that this helps give her many more years. I have some good info on MVD from someone very experienced with it; she said I could put this together for the FAQs so I will do that as a priority as I think you'd find it very helpful.

Cathy T

6th July 2005, 07:53 PM

Nicki - Sorry to hear Peaches isn't doing so well. Hoping for the best and sending warm wishes.

Bonnie - always encouraging to hear something like this!

Cathy

Harry & Heidi's mom

6th July 2005, 08:39 PM

sending big hugs to you both

Nicki

6th July 2005, 09:31 PM

Thanks everyone - Bonnie, it was really encouraging to read about the Artful Dodger, sounds like he lived up to his name :D

Karlin, that would be fantastic, I've been doing some research but the more I know, the better I can cope with this. Don't want to pressurise you though, as I know you're off to the States again very soon.

Peaches sends you all kisses and says thank you for thinking of her.

Jay

7th July 2005, 05:21 AM

So sorry to hear the news about Peaches. I will be sending positive energy your way that your vet can get Peaches' meds worked out so that she will do fine. Modern medicine is pretty amazing and stories like Bonnie's Artful Dodger make us all hopeful since heart problems are something that many of us will have to face with our dogs. Best wishes to you and Peaches that the docs can get her on a healing track.
J.

Thinking of you both. How old is Peaches? She's such a beautiful baby girl, bless her. My friend used to have a black and tan called Bobby. He had such a bad murmur from the age of 10mths that the vets and specialists she saw all said he wouldn't reach two. Little Bobby amazed them all and lived to 12! He led a very charmed life and was (as he should have been) completely pampered. Might give you a bit of hope :)

Hugsssssssssssssss from me and Maxxy XX

Mary

7th July 2005, 01:05 PM

Wishes for a news that medicine will help Peaches to grow old and gray with you. It is so hard when you know they have something that will not go away or heal in time. I am struggling with seeing symptoms of EFS in my young 6 month old and so glad I neutered her sire and her dam will be spayed along with her the end of this week. I look at her and feel her life here will be short so it is best to enjoy each day. We are certainly blessed with a breed that has its share of problems and even with that I do not think I would want another breed in its place. Good thoughts out to you and Peaches.

Nicki

7th July 2005, 02:53 PM

Thank you everyone - your thoughts and wishes are really appreciated, it helps us to know that you are thinking of us and sending positive thoughts - I know how effective they are. It also means we are not dealing with this alone.

It's very helpful to hear others' stories - Little Bobby was amazing, they are incredible how they can confound the vets sometimes, just with a strong will to live.

Donna, Peaches is only 6 1/2 - she will be 7 in November. Sadly two years ago we lost our beautiful Blenheim, Fillilpa, at the age of 5 1/2 with sudden heart failure - she hadn't been ill at all, just left us very suddenly. Of course this is playing on our minds now.

We are certainly blessed with a breed that has its share of problems and even with that I do not think I would want another breed in its place.

Mary, you are so right. Despite all the problems, we just couldn't be without a Cavalier, they are SO special.

I'm sorry about your baby with EFS - I hope she will settle down with treatment. You are very responsible in having her and her parents neutered, so that this is not passed on.

Make the most of each and every day with your babies - we always tell them how much we love them and make time for special cuddles and kisses every day.

Nicki

11th July 2005, 06:04 PM

Peaches wasn't so great over the weekend, but it was SO hot, and I don't think that helped.

She was SO good today, they managed to give her an ECG and X ray her chest without even giving her a sedative!! She just lay there as good as gold!! Actually if you rub her tummy she will lay there for ages... :D

She was really pleased to see us when we picked her up...

BUT the cardiologist needs to review everything, so the vet doesn't want to talk about it until he hears back from the cardiologist, which will probably be Thursday or Friday.

I'm a bit concerned that he wouldn't say anything, wouldn't even grade it or tell me what was on the X-ray although I do understand what he's saying, he doesn't want to commit to anything without knowing all the facts.

The cardiologist is in London. The nearest one to here is Edinburgh, over 200 miles away so it would be very difficult to take her there - about 5 hours each way.

Julie

11th July 2005, 06:23 PM

Nicki I have only just caught up with your post about peaches MVD.
I do hope you hear good news on Thursday it must be such a worry for you.

Thinking of you and especially peaches.

Arne

11th July 2005, 07:04 PM

Well the good thing is that they are doing an investigation so they will have a much clearer picture about what is going on with P Peaches. How long before you hear the results?

Maxxs_Mummy

11th July 2005, 09:56 PM

Oh Nicki, I'm so sorry to hear Peaches hasn't had a good weekend :cry: Saying that, don't you find the hot weather affects you? It does me !

Bless the little love lying there as good as gold - Maxx would have been doing the 'fuss me, fuss me' dance all round the surgery!

The waiting is the worst but try not to worry too much - easier said than done I know :cry: We are still waiting for the MRI results and apparentlt they should be back on Thursday too. Alison and I have both had stern words with GWR over the phone :x

Thanks for that - sorry you're still waiting for the MRI results too - that's a bit naughty.

Sounds like the end of the week will be D-Day for us both :(

I'm not good in the heat either, so I know how she feels!! Yesterday the boys didn't get a walk until nearly 8.30 pm, and I actually went out in shorts it was so warm still!! Shocked all the neighbours! It's unusual for it to be so hot here, it was over 28 C in Inverness by 11am, so I dread to think what it went up to.

Nicki

15th July 2005, 09:55 AM

Finally have the results from the vet - it's not horrendous, but not good news either.

Peaches' heart is noticeably enlarged on the left side - indicative of MVD - her pulse rate is rather elevated at 160 -170, we should be aiming for 140.

The conclusion from the ECG and X-rays is that she is suffering from MVD, that there are already siginificant changes so she is starting on Vetmedin {ACE inhibitor} and Frusemide {diuretic} immediately. The vet is going to check her pulse in a couple of weeks, hoping that it will have lowered, and she's going to have an further x-ray in 6 months.

The medication helps to support the heart and make her more comfortable, but MVD is not a curable condition.

Our vet does not like giving grades, as it is known that thay are not necessarily indicative of the severity of the problem - clinical signs are a more reliable indicator. I am aware of some dogs graded at a 6 {that being the most severe} not showing any clinical signs at all!

With her family history it's hard to be positive, although the female side are/were very good for hearts, her sire and grand sire developed murmurs at 8 which progressed rapidly and they both died at 9. :cry:

Peaches was originally diagnosed with a low grade murmur 19 months ago, but it seems to have deteriorated rapidly following her surgery in March, I understand that the shock of the anaesthetic can cause this.

I will of course keep you posted as to how she is doing.

Unfortunately it couldn't have happened at a worse time, we have been packing up everything as major renovation work is due to commence on the cottage next week - we are moving into a caravan in the garden icon_whistling Hope to be able to keep an Internet link...

My apologies though for not being around very much - thinking of you and sending hugs for the little ones.

Cathy T

15th July 2005, 03:20 PM

Nicki - so sorry you didn't get better news about Peaches. What a little love she is! Please know I am thinking about you and hoping for the best.

Maxxs_Mummy

15th July 2005, 10:44 PM

Oh Nicki, I'm so sorry. I will try and ring you on Monday if that's OK. I've been thinking about you and little Peaches but have had a nightmare few days. I'll email and explain a little more in a minute though - so you might read that before you read this hahahaha

Julie

16th July 2005, 05:43 PM

Thinking of you Nicki after your news about peaches.

Good luck with your renovation work to the cottage next week. I thought what we are doing is bad enough but at least we haven't had to move out!